


Search and Recover(ing)

by eyemeohmy



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 07:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14890628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyemeohmy/pseuds/eyemeohmy
Summary: Mikaela and Elita One rest on a journey to collect a new Autobot on Earth.





	Search and Recover(ing)

**Author's Note:**

> My fic submission to Zeenovo's [Transformers Femme 2017 zine](https://zeenovos.itch.io/transformers-femme-zine-2)! Be sure to check it out; it's free and loaded with awesome stuff!
> 
> Tweaked some things, mostly grammar. Canon divergence, of course, where Mikaela still helps out the Autobots and Elita survives the events of RotF.

At twelve midnight on the dot, Mikaela pulled her motorcycle into the nearest gas station. A little town in the middle of nowhere, she was the only vehicle for miles—save the gas attendant’s beat up truck in the parking lot.

Fuel prices here were cheap; a good thing for her, but Mikaela still frowned. She went inside, paid for gas as well as a sandwich wrap and Gatorade. Once the tank was full, she drove back down the lonesome stretch of dark road.

There was an old motel, left to rot and decay in this empty patch of desert. The remaining rooms were all gutted; not like she would have slept on any abandoned mattresses anyway. Mikaela gathered her dinner and pack and headed inside one of the more intact rooms. There was a painting on the wall, barely hanging from a nail and slashed open. A faded countryside with a setting sun in the backdrop; looked peaceful but a little too cheesy for her taste.

Mikaela sighed, dropping her things. She attempted to straighten the painting, but the old nail gave and it crashed at her feet. “Much better,” she snorted.

“What did you feed me? Raw sewage?”

Mikaela turned. Her dark pink motorbike, now much more humanoid and taller, ducked into the room. She looked sick, her optics pale and a sinewy hand clutching her abdomen.

“I knew you were gonna complain,” Mikaela said. She sat in the middle of the floor, unwrapping her sandwich. “But we’re a little low on finances right now. Need to save for the trip back.” She pulled a large lettuce leaf from between the buns. “A bit soggy, but might help you feel better,” she offered, smirking.

Elita One scowled, resting by the window to keep guard. Mikaela ate in silence. She stopped, mid-swallow, at the nearby howl of police sirens, but they quickly passed. She went back to picking at her sandwich.

“Are we staying here for the night?” Elita One asked, glancing back at her human companion. “You look very tired.”

“Yeah,” Mikaela mumbled. She wrapped up her leftovers, shoved them in the plastic bag. “I need to sleep. Unless you think we should—”

“No,” Elita One interjected, shaking her head, “I know Lifeline. She’ll stay where she’s at. Too nervous to do any exploring. She might be a handful when we finally get to her, though, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Path Finder said her signal hasn’t changed in a week,” Mikaela stated. She spread out her sleeping bag, brows furrowed. “I just hope she’s got some energon with her.”

“She’s in no real danger, so long as she stays put,” the Autobot reassured. She watched as Mikaela unzipped and peeled off her jeans. “Besides, even if she was injured, her signal is strong. She’s in good hands; your hands.”

Mikaela averted her gaze. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t…”

Elita One exvented. “There was nothing you could have done. Arcee, Chromia… They may be gone, but their sparks live on within me.” She clutched a hand over her chest. “I feel them here. Thanks to your repairs, I have survived, and I will continue fighting—for me, and for them.”

“Glad I could help.” Mikaela grabbed at the edges of her shirt, stopped. She frowned, her dark eyes lidded. “I mean, you helped me out, too. You were there when Sam…” Scowling, she shook her head and yanked off her top. “Whatever. It’s all in the past.”

“Cherish the memories.”

“Doesn’t help much.”

Elita One moved closer to Mikaela, sitting by her sleeping bag. “I’ll keep watch, so you rest,” she reassured.

“I just need a couple hours then we can head off,” Mikaela explained, sinking into her bag. She pulled it up to her chin, long hair spread like a blanket beneath her head. “Just wake me up in four hours, okay?”

Elita One nodded.

Mikaela closed her eyes and settled in.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen. At almost twenty minutes, Elita One finally asked, “What’s distressing you?”

Mikaela opened her eyes, grumbling. “Now that I’m actually in bed, I can’t sleep,” she said. She sat up, clutching the bag to her chest. “You ever have that problem? Most of the time you guys just… switch off.”

Elita One chuckled, tilting her head. Her blue optics were a pale but comforting light in the darkness. “It’s not nearly as easy as that. I could barely recharge the first few weeks, after you brought me back online. Not without hearing them—feeling them… remembering the pain and shock and sorrow.”

Mikaela reached out a hand, placing it over Elita’s. Not much bigger than her own.

Elita One exvented. “But it gets easier with time. You know that as well as I. Perhaps you’re anxious about meeting Lifeline?” The Autobot leaned closer. “You need not worry. She’s a good bot, and I will be there to protect you.”

Mikaela laughed. She suddenly thought of Sam, all those times he said he’d protect her. “I don’t need protecting,” she insisted, “not anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

Mikaela felt a knot form in her throat. She coughed. “Well,” she sighed, shrugging, “maybe a little.”

Elita One smiled. “It’s been an easy mission so far. I don’t think we’ll have any problems persuading Lifeline to return with us.”

“How do you know Lifeline? Did you guys fight together? Old friends?”

“A bit of both,” Elita One answered, nodding. “She was a medic on our team. Helped patch me up a few times,” she explained. “She… had a hard time adjusting, at first. Lifeline was always a hardcore pacifist; a peaceful bot. But over time, the war made her hard. It made all of us hard. Trust became as rare a commodity as energon.” She smirked. “But I’ve no doubt she’ll believe me when I talk to her. It’s you she might doubt.”

“As long as she doesn’t shoot on sight,” Mikaela snorted. She idly touched her pack, feeling the cold hard metal of the gun inside. “I really, really hate when they do that, you know.” She paused. “When Path Finder said she located Lifeline’s coordinates, she mentioned that ‘her partner’s signature wasn’t there.’ What partner?”

Elita One was quiet a moment, her smile breaking just a little. “Quickslinger. Her assistant and best friend. They were inseparable; Quickslinger was like her second shadow.”

Mikaela swallowed. “It could be they got separated. Maybe Quickslinger’s out looking for supplies or weapons?” she suggested.

“Path Finder would have picked up her sig by now. She’s been keeping an eye on Lifeline; in the week she’s been monitoring her, Lifeline has remained alone.”

Mikaela chewed her lip. “I see…”

“But who’s to say they didn’t get separated?” Elita One said, sitting up straight. “Quickslinger might be out there, somewhere. Maybe she hasn’t made it to Earth yet.”

Mikaela slowly laid back down, staring up at the cracked and worn ceiling. “Expect the worst—”

“—Hope for the best,” Elita finished. “You taught me that.”

“Yeah.”

Elita One cocked up her head. “Ah, yes,” she said, snapping her fingers. “I’ve been working on my holoform. It’s still a touch glitchy, but I think I can hold it for at least an hour or two now.”

Mikaela grinned. “All right,” she said, waving a hand, “let’s see it.”

Elita One switched off her optics, folding her hands over her midsection. Her engine revved, machinery whirring and buzzing. Light blinked into existence, static at first but definitely humanoid. With a little more concentration, the hard light started forming a clear image, the holo appearing standing casually beside Elita One, a hand on her arm.

Mikaela bit her tongue, forcing back the laughter. “Um, Elita,” she snorted, rubbing her forehead, “like, it looks really… good and all, but… Wait, why did you choose this image?”

“I’ve seen pictures of her. She is very beautiful, for human standards,” Elita One’s holoform answered, flipping hair off her shoulder.

“Yeah, well, hate to break it to you, but you can’t go around with Beyoncé riding you.”


End file.
